'Asian Cilla Black' brings arranged marriages to BBC

The BBC is set to broadcast the first televised arranged marriage in a new matchmaking show, it emerged today.

Arrange Me A marriage - which will use the traditional Asian method of helping lonesome singletons find and wed 1the partner of their dreams - will air next month on BBC2.

Host Aneela Rahman, whose parents helped choose her husband of 15 years, has been dubbed the “Asian Cilla Black”

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The British Pakistani, in her 30s, believes a modern Asian arranged marriage could help combat rising divorce rates in the UK.

She told The Independent: “Most Asians are introduced to potential partners by the people who know them best – their family and friends.

“And the suitors are selected in a very matter-of-fact way based on who might be most compatible."

The mother-of-two insists her marriage to Maqsood is a good example of how being fixed-up with a husband can work.

Aneela added: "My approach to arranging marriages is pragmatic, focusing on compatibility -looking at shared goals, background, values, education, earning potential but love and attraction is also very important.

“I don't advocate suitors getting together if they aren't attracted to each other.

“But I believe that there is a strong chance of making a successful marriage if as many of these key factors as possible are taken into account."

A pilot of the programme aired earlier this year.

It received such positive reviews that BBC executives were persuaded to commission a five-part series.

The first episode features Lexi Proud, a 33-year-old who moved, aged 16, from the North-east to London and has a string of broken relationships.

Aneela believes that Lexi's pattern of failed relationships is down to dating people outside of her class – something with which Lexi strongly disagrees.

But the host Aneela sets about proving her point by finding her someone more compatible, using her family as chief advisers.

Geeta Vastavasrivastava, the UK head of the global matrimonial website Shaadi.com, supports the show being broadcast to a largely non-Asian audience.

She said: "Because an arranged marriage is supported by a family from the start, when you go through a bad patch, you still have the support of the two families that brought that marriage about in the first place.

“It's something very specific to the Asian culture."

She believes that many people in Britain have trouble with the idea of an arranged marriage because they confuse it with a forced marriage.

Geeta explained: "The vast majority of arranged marriages are not forced in any way.

“You can often spend a few months with someone the family has chosen and at the end of it just say no.

“Ninety per cent of the people I know have decided on their own whether they like the person enough to marry them."

But many young Asians increasingly believe that the concept of an arranged marriage is incompatible with living in the modern world and point to increasing divorce rates among Asian couples.

Aninditha Basu, a 33-year-old lawyer currently fighting off suitors put forward by her family, believes that arranged marriages are simply too artificial for modern times.

She said: "In an arranged marriage both prospective partners only show their best side so you don't get to know the real person.

“In a love match, you already know everything there is to know about your partner before you take the plunge.

“For me it's not good enough to hope that love comes once the marriage has taken place. That's too big a risk to take.”